POLICE BRIEFS 12/15/11

Published: 2011.12.15 12:00 AM

Two suspicious fires reported

Anchorage police said a newspaper carrier reported a trailer on fire across from Skyline Church on North Eagle River Loop Road around 3:40 a.m. on Dec. 7. Officers arrived to find a travel trailer ablaze in the yard of a home and Anchorage firefighters putting out the fire, police spokeswoman Anita Shell said. Officers stopped a yellow Ford Mustang that drove past the scene after witnesses reported seeing a similar car in the area before the fire, Shell said. However, no charges have been filed against the occupants, who denied any involvement, she said. Firefighters said the fire appeared intentionally set.

In an unrelated vehicle fire, police received a report around 5 p.m. on Dec. 3 of a torched vehicle on Camp Gorsuch Road. Officers were dispatched to investigate a possible arson at the request of the Anchorage Fire Department, Shell said. Someone apparently set fire to an older Toyota Forerunner — it burned down to the frame and major components — and removed the vehicle identification number, she said. But they left the license plate. The owner was identified as 23-year-old Ryan Nolan, of Fort Richardson, but military police had no record of Nolan in their roster, Shell said. An investigation continues.

‘Little help loading this stolen TV?’

A 49-year-old Anchorage man walked out of the Eagle River WalMart with two flat-screen televisions in his shopping cart on Nov. 30. But Orenton Jacquet hadn’t paid for the two 50-inch LG TruSlim sets valued at $613 each, Anchorage police said.

When a store employee at the exit asked Jacquet for a receipt for the two TVs, he told the employee his wife paying for them, police spokeswoman Anita Shell said. “Then the suspect asked the guy if he’d help him load them into his vehicle,” Shell said, reading off a police report. “And he said ‘No, I’m not going to help you. I need to see the receipt.’”

The employee said something about needing to see a manager and Jacquet left with the sets, Shell said.

But the suspect drove off in a Mercury Mountaineer with a vanity plate, so the owner was easily tracked down, Shell said. The owner told police who was in the vehicle at the time of the theft, police got a warrant for felony theft and located Jacquet at an Anchorage motel the next day, she said. He was lodged at Anchorage Jail in lieu of $3,000 bail and ordered not to return to the Walmart.

Helluva burglary

A resident of Helluva Street in Chugiak told Anchorage police that someone apparently broke into their home and stole a number of possessions on Nov. 30.

Someone forced open the front door and also opened the garage door to gain entry, police spokeswoman Anita Shell said. Stolen were multiple firearms, a gun scope, jewelry and cash, Shell said. The homeowner valued the missing items and money at $11,100, she said. Police have no suspects.

DUI arrests

Anchorage police said they arrested Tykiera Kendrick, 27, of Eagle River for driving under the influence just before 4 a.m. on Dec. 3 after stopping her for dark-tinted windows and speeding on Business Boulevard near Regency Drive. Kendrick performed poorly on field-sobriety tests and her estimated blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, police spokeswoman Anita Shell said. Kendrick was lodged at Anchorage Jail in lieu of $500 bail plus a $750 performance bond.

Other DUI arrests, according to police:

Theodore Pullen, 42, of Eagle River at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 4 after being stopped for running a stop sign at Business and Regency, improperly displaying the month tab on his license plate and for having no white light illuminating his rear license plate. Pullen did poorly on his field sobriety tests and declined a breath test, Shell said. He was lodged at Anchorage Jail in lieu of $500 bail.

Justin Sluyter, 23, of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and originally from Pennsylvania. An officer stopped to check on Sluyter at about 4 a.m. on Dec. 4 after finding Sluyter’s vehicle stuck in a ditch on Terrace Hills Drive. Sluyter told the officer he had a couple beers at the Homestead Lounge and was driving a friend home, Shell said. His breath-alcohol level was estimated at just over the legal limit, she said.

Sluyter, who serves in the U.S. Army, was slated to deploy to Afghanistan, Shell said. A magistrate waived his bail by phone “to expedite the arraignment process” in consideration of his deployment status, she said. Some 3,500 troops in the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson are deploying to Afghanistan for a year. Deployment started in late November and continues this month.

Charges are merely accusations; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial or until a plea of guilty is accepted by the courts.

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